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Presentation about Latvia
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Republic of LatviaLatvijas Republika
Table of content
1. Overview: Politics, Geography and Population
2. Riga and Countryside
3. Economic, political and societal situation
4. History
5. Cuisine Culture
6. Sources
Politics, geography and population
Bordered to Estonia (north) Russia (east) Belarus (southeast) Lithuania (south)
Territory: 64,589 km2
Switzerland: 41,285 km2
Capital: Riga
Population: 2,217,053 inhabitants 62.1% Latvians 26.9% Russians 3.3% Belarusians 2.2% Ukrainians 2.2% Poles
President: Andris Bērziņš Prime Minister: Valdis Dombrovskis Unitary parliamentary republic Member of the EU since 2004
Riga
About 700,000 inhabitants ->
largest city in the Baltic region
Latvians 42.5%, Russians
40.7%
Centre is UNESCO World
Heritage Site, Jugendstil
Riga
The river Daugava has been an important trade route for the Vikings
Development in early Middle Ages, Hanseatic League member in 1282
Hansa as stability and growth factor in politics and economics
Latvia‘s countryside
• Wildlife include deer, bear, wolves, lynx, moose
• Daugava 1020km from Russia, through Belarus, ending in the Gulf of Riga
• Gaiziņkalns 312m
GDP, HDI and Economics
GDP per capita (PPP): $15,662 (56% of EU average in 2008) HDI: 0,805 (43rd) = very high Member of WTO since 1999 Economist Intelligence Unit Democracy Index: 48th, flawed democracy Human Rights generally respected
Recent economic development: Rapid economic growth before 2008
(above EU average) Latvian financial crisis 2008-2010
Easy credit market burst Export oriented economy (20% of
GDP) -10.5% GDP growth in 2008 -18% GDP growth in 2009 23% unemployment rate in 2009
Since the beginning of 2010 slow economic recovery
Introduction of Euro targeted in 2014
Societal conflicts
After Latvians independence in 1991, anyone who‘s forebears arrived after 1940 did not automatically get citizenship About 50% of the Russians (300,000)
Cannot vote in elections, hold public office or work in government institutions
Russian officially foreign language
Initially strict conditions have been relaxed, but...
...still there are cultural clashes!“There's no need for a second language. Whoever wants, can use their language at home or in school"
Latvian President Andris Berzins
"I think that over the past 20 years Russian residents of Latvia have been humiliated by authorities, by endless attempts either to assimilate or make them second-class citizens” Vladimir Linderman, co-chairman of Native
Tongue
History: Latvia before the Soviet Union
Proto-Baltic ancestors of the Latvian people settled in the Balctic area at about 3000 BC
Establishing of trade routes to Rome and Byzantium German crusader, sent by the Pope, sailed up the Daugava River in order
to seek converts in the 12th century Germans ruled large parts of today‘s Latvia in the 13th century Dynamic changes during Reformation period
Livonian War (1558-1583) – Livona (Latvia) under Polish and Lithuanian rule
Polish-Swedish War (1600-1611) – Livonia under Swedish rule
The Duchy of Courland and Semigallia (including Latvia) became a Russian province in 1795
Young Latvian movement -> First National Awakening in the end of 19th century
Around 1917/1918 Russian Revolution and the end of WW I lead to a power vacuum
In February, 1922 a freely elected constituend assembly the liberal constitution Satversme, which is Latvia‘s today constitution!
History: Latvia during Soviet Union
The Baltic states got annexed first 1940 and again from 1944-1991 by the Soviet Union
Infliction of uniformity Sovietization to extinguish national identity of Baltic people
Russification of education
Creation of a Soviet national identity
Russian language compulsory
Limited expression in literature and visual arts
Song festivals remained mean of national self-expression
Deportations
History: the Singing Revolution
Upcoming campaigns and demonstrations among the Baltic states against the Soviet Union from 1987-1989 Congress for protection of Latvian language rights, democratisation of society,
economic sovereignty, cessation of immigration from the USSR, etc.
In August 23, 1989, people from all three Baltic countries held an enormous demonstration of unity: the Baltic Way - a 600 km long “chain” of human beings from Talinn through Riga to Vilnus
Introduction Glasnost and Perestroika by M. Gorbachev in 1985 Rescission of limitations on political
freedoms
Enforcing factors for discontent among Baltic states Revealing of previously withhold issues
War in Afghanistan
Chernobyl
Access to Finish (Western) TV
Cultur: Cuisine
• Agricultural products, meet, fish
Sources
International Monetary Fund. Retrieved 2012-04-18.
Baltic Thaw, Aegean freeze", The Economist, 27 February 2010, p59
Latvijas Statistika 2010, retrieved 2010/06/06
Wikipedia
Spiegel Online
Welcome to Latvia – Folk Songs
Typical Latvian Food and Drink Recipes
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